Husband sentenced to life for killing wife with lethal dose of nicotine

SEOUL -- A 22-year-old man was sentenced to life for killing her 19-year-old wife with a lethal dose of nicotine during their honeymoon in Japan in a crime aimed at getting her death benefit worth 150 million won ($135,257).

The man was arrested in March for killing his wife in Osaka on April 25 last year. He was found guilty of using a crude liquid of nicotine for his murder and reported to Japanese police that his wife committed suicide.

The body was cremated in Japan on consent from her family, but charges were brought against him, based on his diary that contained a homicide plan as well as the outcome of an autopsy from Japanese investigators.

On Thursday, a court in the central city of Daejeon rejected the man's argument that he had helped his wife to commit suicide, characterizing the murder as "an antisocial crime that undermines the basic values of our society."

"The defendant committed a murder to receive a death benefit in a crime which was well-planned for months," the court said in its verdict, stressing that heavy punishment is needed to prevent the recurrence of such crimes.

It was the second murder case using nicotine, a highly unusual weapon that's difficult to detect in a dead body. In September last year, a 47-year-old woman received a life sentence on conviction of conspiring with her lover to kill her husband with a lethal dose of nicotine.

The earlier case was initially seen as a perfect crime as the woman inherited assets from her husband and an insurance payment of about 80 million won. However, an autopsy revealed a high amount of nicotine from the husband who had never smoked, as well as zolpidem, a sedative primarily used for the treatment of insomnia.

Nicotine, a plant alkaloid which works quickly when used with a sedative, could be a lethal poison, but it has rarely been used as a reliable weapon. Lethal amounts of nicotine need to be ingested, absorbed or injected.